Focus Media (Kigali)
28 October 2009
The government and the World Bank have signed for the disbursement of US$ 35 million under Fast Track initiative (FTI), a fund that supports the education for all policy.
World Bank Country Manager Mimi Ladipo, Finance Minister James Musoni and Education Minister Charles Muligande are all smiles after the signature of the agreement. (photo Timothy Kisambira)
The grant completes a total of US$ 105 million pledged the World Bank over three years, to support policy reforms in priority areas which include teachers' development, establishment of a procedure and framework for the implementation of decentralized procurement and school level selection of textbooks as well as adoption of girls' education policy.
The signing of the MoU came at the end of a three-day joint review meeting of the education sector which had brought together the ministry of education and development partners.
James Musoni, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, said that the funds constitute a huge contribution towards achieving the nine-year basic education policy the government has embarked on. He further pointed out that investing in education is fundamental to achieve the Vision 2020 targets.
"If we don't get education right, other sectors are at risk," Musoni said, adding that one cannot talk about wealth while ignoring knowledge and skills. The Minister further stressed the need to fast-track education for human development.
While the government has embarked on a more ambitious program of providing secondary education for all, which was upgraded in 2006 from the universal primary education, the quality and number of teachers' is still low.
"The number of teachers who are supposed to implement the secondary education for all is still low compared to the number of students enrolled," Musoni said.
Another challenge is the implementation of the nine-year basic education program. According to Education Minister Charles Muligande, Rwanda has acquired the FTI funds due to its ambitions to provide the nine-year basic education, thus going beyond the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of universal primary education.
"The FTI target is to ensure all people have basic primary education, which we have already achieved, and we now have our sight set on universal secondary education," Muligande said.
And there is reason to be optimistic, Finance Minister Musoni pointed out. "We already have a good transition from primary to secondary education for all, which is being given priority," Musoni pointed out.
One problem that still needs to be addressed, though, is the drop-out rate which continues to increase. In response, the government is taking measures to combat such as making Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) more accessible.
It was remarked, however, that other stakeholders also have their role to play, especially teachers and parents, who should sit together to assess which kind of education is the most appropriate for a specific child.
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